ATLANTA — Saturday was another day at East Lake unfit for all but the web-footed, a day in which the real champions were the fans who squished resolutely from hole to hole, competing only for some glimpse of the action through the curtain of umbrellas while risking varying fungal issues.
And when the mud settled on the third round of the Tour Championship, there was a new leader: none other than two-time major winner Jordan Spieth.
With his dead-eye 20-foot birdie putt on No. 18 — “That was a tap-in,” smiled playing partner Henrik Stenson, having witnessed plenty of the 22-year-old’s work — Spieth assumed for the first time leadership of the Tour Championship. Spieth’s 68 was good enough to lift him to 8 under through three rounds. One shot back, having spent all the capital of his first-round 63, was Stenson.
The two will be paired again in the last group Sunday, winner take all. Well, not exactly all. There is so much money being thrown around here this week that no one player could possibly catch it all. Suffice to say that either Spieth or Stenson can collect $11.4 million in tournament winnings and FedEx Cup bonus with a victory.
That’s assuming that someone like Rickie Fowler or Paul Casey (4 under), Rory McIlroy or Zach Johnson (3 under) doesn’t come along and throw everything into the kind of chaos that can only be unraveled by computer analysis.
But when the players scrape the mold and mildew from their equipment and shake the rainwater from their ears for Sunday’s final, it will be Spieth and Stenson at the center of the drama.
They are the cruiserweights involved in the most direct, head-to-head battle here, the two left standing atop the leaderboard. And after all this rain, every little bit of high ground is to be savored and fiercely protected.
The tale of the tape lists both of the same general dimensions — 6-foot-1, 185/190 pounds — although Stenson looks to have the reach advantage if it comes to that. He also has 17 years on Spieth.
There is no doubt that the young man’s recent performance chart dwarfs Stenson’s: Two majors this year to none ever for his elder, while Spieth leads in PGA Tour victories this season 4-0.
Motivationally, Spieth also is taking the higher-priority approach here while the Swede is playing it unblinkingly cool. “The whole year has been about the major championships,” Spieth said, “and I consider this to be the fifth one at the end. We’re in another opportunity to get a winning record in the five.”
According to form, Stenson wavered on the back nine Saturday. The 2013 Tour Championship/Fed Ex Cup winner, Stenson has seven rounds on record at East Lake. He is a cumulative 22 under par on the front side, 1 over on the back. As he stumbled again, he had occasion to admire the work of his playing partner.
As Spieth lined up a 22-foot par saving putt on No. 16, “I was looking at the scoreboard where we have the stats,” Stenson said.
“And (it showed) when he’s putting 20 to 25 feet he’s making 24 percent. And I thought, it feels like it’s a bigger chance than that and he just rolled it right in the middle.”
There was plenty of scrambling to be done on these mushy grounds Saturday, and Spieth simply was more adept at it than Stenson.
“Up-and-downs on No. 5 (from 51 yards short of the green) and No. 8 (from the front bunker, 34 feet from the pin) were the keys to the day today,” Spieth said.
His first birdie of the day came on the par-5 ninth, an unerring 8-footer closing the deal. From there, Spieth was just about as perfect as the imperfect conditions would allow.
Meanwhile Stenson lost his grip on the lead on No. 17, falling into a tie with Spieth after he bogeyed from the green-side bunker. Then Spieth seized the lead for himself with the birdie on the par-3 closing hole.
Almost forgotten in his rise to the lead were the two playoff events in which Spieth missed the cut, and when irksome questions about his game arose. When he spoke Saturday, he sounded entirely like the holder the Masters and U.S. Open trophies. With at least three fingers wrapped around another trophy.
“I was finally striking the ball, giving myself good looks for birdie,” he said. “And I know my putting’s where I want it to be.”
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